Documenting My Journey: WGU BSIT-Security

[jsd]

This is one I refuse to even think about until I cross that bridge, or or I will obsessively focus on it and only it for months. Hopefully they'll accept some real boring Identity & Access Management proposal from me when the time comes.

Good luck! I'm. sure you've got this.

[jsd]

I was scrolling back through this thread, just out of curiosity, thorne, why are so many of your posts deleted??

[Thorne]

I was scrolling back through this thread, just out of curiosity, thorne, why are so many of your posts deleted??

Some of the posts were redundant, so I wiped out the old ones in favor of the new. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the greatest idea, but I can't fix it now. :/

[theonlyski]

Since enrolling in the capstone, I've got absolutely nothing done on it. Been too busy scoping out the MSCSIA program and its quirks.

I'd be interested to hear what the quirks are too. Not sure I'll go that far and have a long time before I'm there, but always open to hearing about those things!

[Thorne]

Since enrolling in the capstone, I've got absolutely nothing done on it. Been too busy scoping out the MSCSIA program and its quirks.

I'd be interested to hear what the quirks are too. Not sure I'll go that far and have a long time before I'm there, but always open to hearing about those things!

Good quirks:

• Two in-house assessments: Secure Network Design and Secure Software Design. I found some course links and took the Pre-A for both. Passed Secure Networks by 15 questions cold. I failed Secure Software, but this is because I only did half of the questions before submitting (I was exhausted, gimme a break ) and still only failed by like 6 questions. Could probably knock these out in the first week with minimal study.
  
• Two cert exams: CEH and CHFI. The CEH is like Security+ with CLI and the CHFI should be easy enough because I've taken 1 B&M class + a Udemy course + played with FTK Imager + read a book on Forensics. Might be able to pass these two in 2-3 weeks.
  
• Only a 30 credit MS: 10 classes, 30 credits. If I can wrap up the above 4 in the first month, that leaves me with 6/10 classes in 5 months (seems doable if I really push hard)
  
• NO FRIGGIN' THESIS: Just a capstone project. Every other affordable program I've found for Cyber has a required thesis (one offered a 6-month practicum as an alternative -- no thanks). Not saying the capstone is easy, but it will be easier than a thesis.
  
• Curriculum is pretty well aligned with the CISSP: If you already have the CISSP, the program is going to be much easier for you than it would be for me. If not, you'll be much closer to the CISSP when finished.
  

Bad quirks:

• Nonexistent instructions (or general direction) for papers: I don't mind writing papers, and I don't need someone to hold my hand, but I either need a general set of instructions (i.e. cover these topics, do so in this order (if order is required), and make sure to cover this list of obscure points) or an example paper to show me the topics, required order, and obscure points to cover. Simply saying, "Write it in APA, talk about Cyber Law, have fun!" isn't going to cut it.
  
• Cyber Law: The driest class I have ever seen in my life, and I actually like studying policy and law. The reading materials for this are so dry that Death Valley has competition.
  

That was a couple of hours of examination, so not a comprehensive list. I plan to spend a day or two really digging into it while my Capstone is being processed to find some more Pros/Cons to add to the list.

[jsd]

Any insight on what the typicsl length of papers they're looking for? Or is that omitted from the instructions?

[Thorne]

Any insight on what the typicsl length of papers they're looking for? Or is that omitted from the instructions?

Risk Management JIT2 - 6560005
    1 Paper
    14 - 20 pages

Cyberlaw, Regulations, and Compliance TFT2 - 2003
    Task 1: Develop and justify policy statements. No suggested length.
    Task 2: Describe issues with a scenario and author policies. No suggested length.
    Task 3: Recommend changes to an SLA. No suggested length.
    Task 4: 3-5 page report on a scenario.

Cyberwarfare C688 - 7520003
    Task 1: 6-9 pages on Cyberwarfare History
    Task 2: 6-9 pages on Network Evaluation and Defense-in-Depth
    Task 3: 2-4 pages on Safeguards

Security Policies and Standards Best Practices VLT2 - 1180002
    Task 1: Threat assessment and evaluation. No suggested length, but it looks like a 4-5 page assessment.
    Task 2: ISMS plan. No suggested length.
    Task 3: As-is question sets for compliance. No suggested length, but it looks like you'll need 4-5 pages.
    Task 4: Author a white paper comparing various standards frameworks. No suggested length.

Disaster Recover Planning, Prevention, and Response FXT2 - 20243
    Task 1: 15 slide multimedia presentation + presenter notes for each slide.
    Task 2: Postevent evaluation and follow-up. No suggested length.
    Task 3: After Action Report using a template. No suggested length.

Information Security and Assurance Capstone Project LQT2 - 1448
    Prospectus: 15 - 23 pages.
    Written Report: No suggested length, but I've seen a range of anywhere from 75 to 150 pages.
    Oral Defense: Not certain if this is live or recorded. TaskStream wants a recording, but I've heard that it must be live

[jsd]

As always, you're a wealth of information. Thanks so much.

[Thorne]

As always, you're a wealth of information. Thanks so much.

As always, glad to be of assistance!

[Thorne]

Just a quick update, my topic was approved this morning, and I'm starting on my proposal today. Hopefully I'll be able to wrap all of this up in 2-ish weeks.